[BlackPearl]

My experience with Jalan in Calcutta - Excellent and Outstanding and special thanks to the person named Sankar (oh the thread starter has the same name )

[khoj]

I find Thanewala good for all routine services and Spectra extremely responsive for running repairs. Both are located in Wagle Industrial Estate, Thane.

[nkrishnap]

Had a couple of experiences with the Maruti ***, one regular servicing of Alto and the Swift one of case.

1. Getting my friends Swift to get the engine malfunction light issue fixed. RNS Motors Yeshwantpur. I would rate them below average on the technical knowledge or expertise. The fault was just a lose connection and to diagonise this issue it took them 3 days and not without help from my end on the third day. Never returned to RNS after that.

2. Sagar Automobiles JP nagar - They are acceptable when it comes to regular servicing and few body shop repairs. They are still not able to fix the issue with the remote locking and its sensor issue for about a year now. The other concern is, they push you so much to on the additives and other not so essential things just to increase the bill amount.

Over all, I would say its just average and below expectations for me.

PS: By the way, I take care of the regular car services in my family being an auto freak.

For me its not the number of service centers that matter, its getting the issue resolved even if it has to be with fewer service centers

[sonirohit]

My Exp with Maruti's A.S.S has been nothing but fantastic.
There have been instances where one service station has screwed up - but in my city there are 8 M.A.S.S each competing for business and maruti's Regional office ensures that every screw-up by any of these M.A.S.S is corrected at the earliest.

[jkdas]

I am happy with the A.S.S of my two Alto. I usually take my cars to Hi-Tech @ Ulloor, Trivandrum and Brightway @ Pala/Uzhavoor. Maybe I get a better service coz both are owned by close relatives.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by jkdas

I am happy with the A.S.S of my two Alto. I usually take my cars to Hi-Tech @ Ulloor, Trivandrum and Brightway @ Pala/Uzhavoor. Maybe I get a better service coz both are owned by close relatives.

Okay, i'm going there for my next service.

[Gilead]

Maruti's A.S.S needs a lot of improvement, at least in Chennai. I own an 800. I have tried 4 different A.S.S till now and all have been pathetic. And low maintenance is a myth. Paid service for an 800 never costs less than 3.5K, sometimes more.

Khivraj Motors, Mount Road

- Did not fix my rear right wheel properly after the second free service. Wheel nearly came off. Did shoddy work on brake drum replacement and I had to visit them twice to get it fixed. Interior cleaning leaves a lot to be desired. They intercept feedback forms and offer bribes to get the ones directly mailed by Maruti. More on that below.

ABT Maruti, Arumbakkam.

These guys are the pits and outright crooks. I gave my car for the 30K service to them. They did not change the engine oil when the claimed they did and charged me for it. They also scratched the car somewhere inside their premises or during the drop back home. Filed a complaint with Maruti twice but no response from Delhi.

Maruti Service Masters, Guindy

Full of smooth talking SAs who made me replace clutch and a whole host of other things at 35K when it was not needed. Paid 7.5K during that service. Filled nitrogen when I did not ask for it and charged me for it. The only good thing they did was fixing the AC properly.

Pit Stop, Annanagar

This is the smallest of the lot and they changed the oil and filters and spark plugs without screwing up. Washing was average, but they do not have the facilities like in the other big A.S.S, but they still managed to achieve the same results. I asked them to check the battery as cranking was starting to stutter. They said they checked it fully and it's perfectly fine etc, but my car got stranded the very next day. Battery completely dead.

I have filed complaints with Maruti thrice till now. The only complaint they responded to was when the car was 6 months old. They did not respond to two other complaints when the car was 3.5 years and 4 years old respectively. And Khivraj always tried to 'buy' the feedback form that Maruti mails directly to my home. One guy from Khivraj conned my wife into giving him the feedback form in exchange for a free wash. My wife who is not much aware about cars thought she was doing a good thing by getting me a free car wash coupon and gave them the blank feedback form. I realized then why Maruti is at the top of customer satisfaction ratings. It's 'cos they themselves fill up feedback forms on behalf of the customer!

I have spent nearly 30K in maintenance and done 43K kms in nearly 5 years. That's nearly 70p/km. Compare this with the 40p/km achieved by Suman on a Fiesta 1.6 which carries the 'high maintenance cost' tag.

[mnhegde]

Originally Posted by Gilead

I realized then why Maruti is at the top of customer satisfaction ratings. It's 'cos they themselves fill up feedback forms on behalf of the customer!

Do You think thousands of forms/day are filled by Maruti?? Just because one A.S.C did that, does that mean each and every A.S.C do the same??

As for my experience, It has always met my expectations (Some times exceeded) without any problem till date. Still I feel there can be some improvements .

[Gilead]

Originally Posted by mnhegde

Do You think thousands of forms/day are filled by Maruti?? Just because one A.S.C did that, does that mean each and every A.S.C do the same??


As for my experience, It has always met my expectations (Some times exceeded) without any problem till date. Still I feel there can be some improvements .

'
Khivraj has two dedicated people doing only this. Collecting blank feedback forms and offering free car wash coupons. And this is not an isolated incident. Nearly every single colleague of mine who bought their cars from Khivraj have experienced this as well. I have no idea if other centres are doing it but nothing stops them as well. If the biggest service center in Chennai can get away with it, so can nearly every other service center. And I didn't say Maruti, the company, is doing this. Their dealers and service centres are. I bet they filled in 10 for everything.

[mnhegde]

Originally Posted by Gilead

'
Khivraj has two dedicated people doing only this. Collecting blank feedback forms and offering free car wash coupons. And this is not an isolated incident. Nearly every single colleague of mine who bought their cars from Khivraj have experienced this as well. I have no idea if other centres are doing it but nothing stops them as well. If the biggest service center in Chennai can get away with it, so can nearly every other service center. And I didn't say Maruti, the company, is doing this. Their dealers and service centres are. I bet they filled in 10 for everything.

Thanks for the Correction. I would suggest, You please bring this to the notice of the Regional Office, or mail directly to Maruti (which I feel is a better idea). The A.S.C's simply can't fill up forms according to their likings.
Khivraj has 2 dedicated people for this job ????? This matter needs to be escalated to the higher ups as soon as possible.

[Sankar]

Originally Posted by Gilead

'
Khivraj has two dedicated people doing only this. Collecting blank feedback forms and offering free car wash coupons. And this is not an isolated incident. Nearly every single colleague of mine who bought their cars from Khivraj have experienced this as well. I have no idea if other centres are doing it but nothing stops them as well. If the biggest service center in Chennai can get away with it, so can nearly every other service center. And I didn't say Maruti, the company, is doing this. Their dealers and service centres are. I bet they filled in 10 for everything.

I believe you Gilead. Popular, Trivandrum, sent a guy to help my boss fill up the feedback form.

[GTO]

I've owned an Esteem for 10 years, in addition to a Zen and an M800. Used Vitesse in Mumbai and confidently rate them as "excellent & outstanding".

[mobike008]

The first car that we owned in the family was a M800 ( White Color) in 1991, used it for 5 years and then sold it.

In 2000, bought a M800 ( Neptune Blue) with my own money so essentially this was my first car. Used this car for 3+ years before buying a Hyundai Santro Zipplus.

I would rate the Maruti A.S.S almost equivalent to Hyundai A.S.S. Both are courteous, knowledgable and honest towards customer service.

[Live To Jive]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

They added quite a few things that were not necessary.

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

The other concern is, they push you so much to on the additives and other not so essential things just to increase the bill amount.

This has now become standard operating procedure for all the big Maruti dealers.

For me its not the number of service centers that matter, its getting the issue resolved even if it has to be with fewer service centers

My +1 to this. As long as the car is on the road and not in the workshop for most of the time, I'm happy.

I've owned a Swift VDi and still have an old Alto (Type 1). The main dealers in Goa Sai Service and Chowgule Industries Ltd. are bad. They are only busy ripping off customers with extra items like additives, underbody coatings and teflon coatings. Also a number of parts are changed when not required. Following the advise of another BHPian, I've started using a local workshop owned by an ex-employee of one of the dealers. A new dealership Aryaman Sai has recently been opened. Still haven't checked it out.

[rajeev k]

I have lot of very bad experience with MASS (Dealer Workshops)

1.I have a 2007 Alto which right when deleivered itself had rub scratches on the front left fender and front bumper. The vehicle was delivered at 9.30PM in sheer darkness. When I brought it to my house in the lights I noticed these, was promptly conveyed ansd agreed to rectify it. But the next day morning the same sales asst Manager changed his stance. Further the underbody coating and teflon body polish were not done though agreed as freebees. Had to take up with higher ups and also with Maruti Udyog to finally get it attended and done. When I thought that all is well many more were in the offing.

During the warranty period itself the AC compressor failed but these dealer made minor repairs four times and each time within 24 hours total failure happened. The fifth time the vehicle remained with them for 21 days and after taking up the matter with Maruti Cochin Regional manager got a replacement compressor and since then the system is Ok.

Then once the steering rack started vibrating and the bushes were replaced. But a bill for around 700 rupees was prepared, thanks to my detailed reading of the warranty terms, insisted for free replacement and after long arguments got it for free.

This particular dealer cheats customers regularly. Service supervisors were given targets and to meet this they replace unnecessary parts and bills. My second year service the first paid one cost me Rs 6500. The charges were for oil flushing and filling seperately for engine as well as gear box. The flushing oil cost is more than the real lube oil.

This dealer in Kerala who heralds as No1 dealer is always like this.